


Realizations+Quarantine Cabin Fever+Riley

by CassieJohnson05



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:40:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28982007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassieJohnson05/pseuds/CassieJohnson05
Summary: Mac finally realizes that he has been an idiot when it comes to his feelings for Riley. He shows up at Riley’s door and tells her that he’s an idiot for taking this long.
Relationships: Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 111





	Realizations+Quarantine Cabin Fever+Riley

Mac sat next to Riley on the couch in the war room, the distance between the two of them was nonexistent. Neither one of them seem to mind. He could see Riley smile as she looked down at their legs touching. Mac wondered what was going through her mind as he sat there trying to pay attention what Russ and Matty were telling him. But the tension between him and Riley was making it next to impossible. It definitely wasn’t the bad kind either. Bad tension was what one would use to describe his relationship with Desi, which he called it quits with her after he realized that no matter how hard he tried it would never be enough. He realized that he was settling for the love he think that he deserved, which wasn’t love at all. 

“You’re all dismissed. Don’t let this happen again.” Matty scolded as she wasn’t pleased with the fact of what had transpired earlier today. “Go home. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Don’t be late.” 

“Got it boss.” Riley said as she sat there fiddling with her hands.

“Yes, Matty.” Bozer and Desi said in unison as they got up to leave. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow Matilda.” Russ said as he left the room.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Mac said as he watched Matty exit the war room leaving him there alone with Riley. He knew he probably should have got up to leave when Matty did but instead he found himself stuck as he sat next to Riley. 

As he sat there next to Riley he felt the need to say something but he couldn’t. His words were stuck in his throat. As they sat there in silence both fiddling with their hands as they did when they were both nervous. It reminded Mac of the time in the kitchen when they had a moment that he had blamed on quarantine cabin fever. As he was lost in his thoughts he couldn’t help but think of that broken piece of glass. That night things had begun to change in aspects of his feelings towards Riley. Of course it scared the hell out of him. He couldn’t bring himself to be honest her let alone himself. Instead he did whatever he could to get back together with Desi. He convinced himself that if he got back together with Desi that whatever he was feeling for Riley would disappear. The last thing he wanted to do was lose her if he gave into his feelings. But boy oh boy he was wrong. His feelings for Riley just grew stronger as time went by. 

“Well, as much fun as this has been it’s getting late, Mac. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Riley said breaking Mac from his thoughts. 

“Wait, I’ll walk you to your car. You can never be too safe.” Mac responded as he watched Riley pack up her rig and grab the rest of her belongings.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have better things to do.” Riley smiled as she looked his blue eyes. 

“Oh come on. We’re both heading that way. It’s not a problem. I parked next to you remember?”

“Fine. Let’s go.” 

Riley didn’t wait for Mac as she started to make her way to the elevator. The walk to the elevator seemed like a long one as they both didn’t know what to say. Riley watched Mac push the down button as they waited for the doors to open. If there’s one thing that Mac had no means of personal space, especially when it came to Riley. As they stood there waiting to get on the elevator they were both watching each other out of the corner of their eyes. 

Mac felt a sense of relief once the doors opened. He let Riley go first, after all she was a lady so it was only right he let her go first. Once he entered the elevator he watched Riley push the button with the L on it. They were on the 15th floor so this elevator ride was going to be absolute torture. Mac found himself gravitating into Riley’s personal space as their shoulders touched. He could see Riley smile as he was scolding himself for even looking in her direction.

As the elevator ride continued Mac found himself lost in his thoughts yet again. This time is was about a conversation he had with Bozer on the plane. They were returning back to Los Angeles when they all knew they’d be getting an earful from Matty when they returned to the Phoenix Foundation. Mac found himself struggling with his feelings for Riley and he needed to confide in someone about it. Seeing as Bozer was the only person who knew about his moment with Riley in the kitchen during quarantine.

He pulled his best friend aside from everyone else making sure that no one was around to over hear him. Bozer gave him a confused look as he had no idea what his friend was doing. He watched Mac look over his shoulder and that’s when it hit Bozer what this was about.

“Bozer, man, I have no idea what to do.” Mac said as he sighed looking at Riley who was laughing at one of Russ’s terrible jokes.

“What are you talking about?”

“Riley.” Mac confessed as he made eye contact with the woman he couldn’t get out of his head. He thought back to that night once more as he remembered thoughts that ran through his head about Riley. “Because no matter how broken something appears—whether it’s your grumpy neighbor, your terrified best friend, your estranged girlfriend, or a shard of glass—that broken thing could inspire something new....maybe even something better than before.” He couldn’t help but smile as he thought about how things had changed for him especially when it came to Riley.

“I knew it wasn’t just quarantine cabin fever. If you confess how you feel about her and it doesn’t work out would you be able to live with that? You have to ask yourself if you’re willing to potentially jeopardize your friendship with Riley. If you give whatever this is a shot with her your friendship may never be the same Mac. I want you both to be happy trust me but I also don’t want to see you or Riley get hurt.” Bozer said he just wanted Mac to think long and hard about this.

“I honestly don’t know, Boze. But every time I’m not with her I’m finding an excuse to be near her. I trust her more than I’ve ever trusted anyone. When we fight we always end up feeling guilty and apologizing as soon as we’re done fighting. I feel like being with Riles that nothing would change. I feel like I can be myself around her. I don’t have to walk on eggshells when I’m with her, scared that I’ll say the wrong thing. With Riley I could have the life I’ve always dreamed of.” Mac responded as he looked over Bozer’s shoulder to see Riley staring back at him with a smile causing him to smile. 

“Let me ask you this. What’s stopping you from being with Riley? And don’t you dare say the job. You and I both know that’s not a good enough excuse. In our line of work we may not make it home. So, don’t you want to spend the time we have left being with the one person that you can’t imagine your life without? And don’t you dare say that you’re scared of how Riley may feel because let me tell you something, she has had feelings for you. For quite sometime, she just never told you because she thought Desi made you happy.” 

Bozer didn’t say another word or even let Mac come up with a response before he made his way back to his seat. Mac just stood there as he thought about everything Bozer had told him. His best friend gave him quite a bit to think about. Mac slowly made his way back to the others. He took the empty seat next to Riley. He gave her a smile as he got lost in his thoughts and everything that Bozer gave him to think about. 

Mac was pulled out of his thoughts for the second time in 10 minutes as the elevator dinged signaling that they had reached the lobby. Riley was the first to exit the elevator with Mac right behind her. Mac and Riley walked shoulder to shoulder through the lobby and to the parking lot. Riley stopped at her car as Mac stood there silently rubbing the back of his neck. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow Mac. Have a good night.” 

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow. Night, Riles.” Mac responded as he was mentally kicking himself as he should’ve taken a shot and told her, but didn’t. Now it was too late to say anything as he watched her drive away. Mac slowly got into his truck and drove home.

Once Mac unlocked his door, he went straight to his empty refrigerator to grab a cold beer. He made his way outside to the patio. He took a swig of the beer as his body relaxed into one of the chairs. He couldn’t help but think of how stupid he was for not saying something. The cold air sent a shiver down his spine as his mind kept going back to how he should’ve told Riley how he felt. He couldn’t take it anymore, he needed to do something about this before he drove himself crazy.

Mac without another thought quickly got up from the chair he had been sitting in and made his way to the front door grabbing his keys and phone as he made his way to his truck. Mac tried not to think as he made his way to Riley’s. He was afraid if he thought about it too much that he’d end up convincing himself not to follow through. It didn’t take Mac long to make it to his destination. Just like in the parking lot at the Phoenix Foundation he parked next to Riley’s car. 

Mac quickly made his way into her apartment complex, he knew he had wasted enough time as it was. He wasn’t about to waste another second. Mac thought about taking the elevator but decided on the stairs instead. The elevator would’ve given him too much time to back out of doing what he came here to do. Mac found himself skipping steps as he made his way to Riley’s. He finally reached the floor where Riley’s apartment was located. 

As he made his way down the hall, he had a million thoughts running through his mind. He had no idea what he’d even say to Riley when he came face to face to her. Hell maybe he’d just kiss her. Mac took a deep breath before he knocked on her door. To Angus MacGyver it seemed like it took her an eternity to answer the door but in reality, it took less than a minute. 

Mac was now standing there at her door in the late hours of the night just staring at her. He was at a loss for words. Riley stood there with a concerned look on her face unsure of what Mac was doing at her door at this time of night.

“Mac, is everything okay?” Riley asked in soft whisper.

“Yes. I mean no. Riles, I really don’t know how to say this so I’m just going to say it.” 

“You’re starting to scare me. What’s going on?”

“I’m an idiot. I have feelings for you. I don’t know why it has taken me this long to get to this point. But I am truly the biggest idiot on the planet.”

“Mac.”

“Please, let me finish.”

“Go on.” 

“That night in the kitchen during quarantine when you said that you were glad that you stayed otherwise you would’ve been lonely. Something for me that night changed. I don’t know how to explain it but that’s why I got up an made an excuse to go jogging. If I had stayed in the kitchen I was scared of what I might do. I was scared of fucking up our friendship that I couldn’t allow myself to give into those feelings. You’re the most important person in my life, I don’t know what I would do if I allowed my feelings to get in the way. So I ran. I got back with Desi which that isn’t important. That was a huge mistake on my end. I told Bozer about our moment in the kitchen and I blamed it on quarantine cabin fever. Sure I’m a genius but when it comes to expressing my feelings I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Can I ask you why you’re telling me this now? What has changed, I mean?”

“When I spoke to Bozer on the plane he got me thinking. He asked me what was stopping me from being with you. He said our job wasn’t a good enough of an excuse as to why I was avoiding my feelings, because in our line of work we may not make it home. He then proceeded to ask if I wanted to spend the rest of the time I have left with the the one person that I can’t imagine my life without. I also learned that you had feelings for me but didn’t tell me because you thought I was happy with Desi. Everything he said got me thinking about how he’s right. There’s nothing stopping you and I from being together. When it comes to this job, tomorrow is never promised. You trusted me when no one else did. You put everything on the line to help me. When I thought we were going to die I grabbed your hand. In that moment I felt content with the fact that I may die. I want to be with someone who gets me. I want to be happy. I want to go home with you at the end of a long day. I want to sleep next to you for the rest of my life. You and I we just make sense. No matter what we trust each other. All of my previous relationships were all missing something but with you there’s nothing missing. I’m sorry it took me this long to get to this point.” Mac confessed as he just put his heart on the line. He refused to look at her. Of course she noticed. 

“Angus James MacGyver, I need you to look at me when I say this.” Riley said as she watched his blue eyes make contact with her eyes before she continued. She took few steps breaking the distance between them. “It took you long enough. I get it you’re scared that the dynamic between us will change. I don’t ever want to hear you apologize again. But I really like you. I would even say I’m in love with you but I feel like that might be pushing my luck.” Riley smiled causing Mac to smile in return.

Riley can feel the awkwardness in the air and decides there’s only one thing left to do. She pulls Mac in for a kiss. She can feel him place his hands around her waist as her hands find their way around his neck. Riley felt him pull her closer as they stood their at her door. Their first kiss unlike anything either one of them have ever imagined before. For the first time in who knows how long they were happy. As much as Mac didn’t want to pull away, he needed to catch his breath. Mac rested his forehead against Riley’s as he looked into her eyes. 

“You’re an idiot, but you’re my idiot.” Riley joked as she couldn’t help but smile.

“Speaking nothing but facts. So, where does this leave us? Are we together? Are we friends with benefits?” Mac asked as he tried not to panic about where they went from here.

“Mac. Breathe! Really friends with benefits? I’d like to think I mean more to you than that. We have time to figure things out. This is all new to the both of us. But right now I think my couch is calling our names. Come on.” Riley smiled as she pulled Mac into her apartment closing the door behind them.

“For the record, you mean the world to me. You’re right we have time to figure things out. I really hope I don’t fuck things up. I can’t lose you.” Mac said as he rested his chin on Riley’s shoulder as she led them to the couch where they’d spend the next few hours exploring uncharted territory that they’ve yet to explore.

“Hey. You’re not going to fuck this up. You’re not going to lose me. I’m not going anywhere. When we have an issue we talk about things we don’t ignore them. Now where were we?” 

“I think we were right here.” Mac smirked as he pulled Riley onto his lap before he crashed his lips to hers. 

Mac and Riley spent the next couple of hours making up for lost time. Neither one of them knew what tomorrow let alone the future had in store for them but they knew as long as they had each other they’d be able to figure things out. As Mac held Riley as they were too lazy to get up from the couch he couldn’t help but think about big of an idiot he was. If he had just confessed that night none of this would have happened. If he had to do one thing when he returned home it would be to burn that stupid compass. As for now, he pulled Riley closer to him before pulling the blanket from the back of the couch over them before falling asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y’all!!!  
> This is a one shot based on a little something I posted on tumblr. Let me know what y’all think!


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